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Sustaining Engagement for Neighbourhood Change: Achieving Active Travel Neighbourhoods

Dr Robin Lovelace, Institute for Transport Studies, Faculty of Environment

Responsive Mode Impact Fund

To date, Active Travel Neighbourhoods (ATN) have had mixed public and political reception with significant concern around a lack of meaningful community engagement and threat to individual choices to drive. This project speaks to this concern by developing an evaluation of effective strategies addressing barriers toward neighbourhood support for ATNs followed by an analysis of the data generated during the Leeds City Council’s recent CommonPlace initiative. Based on these twinned analyses we will initiate a series of podcasts, focus groups, and three workshops to support on and off line community engagement toward the implementation of ATNs in Beeston, Hyde Park, and Chapel Allerton. These outputs and engagement strategies will act as a catalyst for the Council, allowing them to further explore and understand behaviour change and attitudes towards the schemes over time.

By generating new insights into what works - and what doesn’t - and by identifying people who feel left out by ATNs, the project will help inform LCC’s future active travel investments, with the wider impact of increasing the accessibility and diversity of active travel schemes across Leeds and beyond. Long term outcomes include contributing to LCC’s objective of Leeds being a “city where you don’t need to use a car” and meeting their 2030 carbon neutral commitment.

Dr Robin Lovelace can be contacted by email: R.Lovelace@leeds.ac.uk